A/N: I'm very sorry for the very long waiting time. I couldn't write anything. My idea were so mess up that I couldn't see the end of the tunnel. I changed this chapter over and over because it was really bad. But finally, here it is for you.

Enjoy!

Previously…

"Fuji-dono," Yagyuu said in a very calm tone (though he was raging inside because of Fuji-dono), "I think I didn't have the chance to present him to you, yet. This is my cousin, who was lost many years ago. I finally found him and he is back in my family. He is now the head of his father's corporation, Yuuji Ryuu."

"You judge a person on your own personal criteria through your tight mind," Ryoga continued. "Have you ever ask your grandson's opinion before throwing him in this engagement? Have you even considered his feelings before imposing him your selfish decision? And most important of all, can't you see that your grandson is suffering because of your doing?" Ryoga finished in rage.

"Wh-what…?" Fuji-dono stuttered, her lips trembling, unsure of her self.

"TURN AROUND AND LOOK AT HIM NOW, DAMN IT!" Ryoga yelled to Fuji-dono.

Taken back by Ryoga's burst, Fuji-dono slowly turned her head to where her grandson stood with her son and his wife. She took her time to look at him, to carefully look at him for the first time since she returned to Japan. First surprise, her grandson's eyes were opened, but they were lifeless. And she saw his hurt soul through his painful eyes.

'Syuu… Syuusuke…? Wh-what happen to him?' Fuji-dono wondered, a pain biting her heart. 'H-how did it turn out like this? Wh-what did I do wrong?'

Ryoma was walking alone in the park, totally depressed. Ryoga and her parents left for some unknown business. Usually, she would be happy to be alone because she was free. But today, she felt lonely. Today, she would wish to have someone beside her…

'Like Fuji-senpai for example…'

Ryoma became more sad that she was. She felt her heart constricting, making it hard for her to breath.

'By now, he must be… with Miyabi-senpai…'

Ryoma shut her eyes, imprisoning the tears which were menacing to escape. Today, she would wish to have someone beside her, but she was more than happy to be left alone. Because no one would see her in pain.

'Fuji-senpai… Miyabi-senpai…'

"Meow…" Karupin meowed, stoop up in her arms to lick off her tears. Ryoma snapped her eyes open when she felt the cat's warm tongue against her cheek.

"Karupin…" Ryoma muttered.

"Meow…" Karupin meowed again, trying to comfort her, looking at her with his worried blue eyes.

"You're worried for me?"

"Meow…" Karupin nodded. Ryoma poorly smiled.

'That's right, I'm not alone. He's always there for me.'

"Thank you…" She hugged him, burying her face in his fur.

"Meow…"

The mistress and the cat shared a moment of comforting silence.

Suddenly, someone said her name.

"Echizen… Ryoma?" a woman with a soft voice asked.

Ryoma turned around to see a woman with close eyes standing in front of her. The woman was around her thirty. She was elegantly dressed in a light purple dress. Her chestnut hair were done in a low bun on her neck. She was standing in front of Ryoma with her hand crossed on her skirt, her purse in her hands.

"Are you Echizen Ryoma?" the woman asked nicely again. Ryoma blushed. She was confused of her lack of manners. Someone just asked her her name and she stood there, not answering. Rinko would scowled her.

"Err, yes. It's me…" Ryoma said, raising an eyebrow. "Who are you? And how do you know my name?"

The woman didn't answer. She only smiled a little bit.

'It's her,' the woman thought. Then, slowly, very slowly, the woman lift up her lids to reveal striking cerulean orbs. Ryoma's eyes widen, shocked.

'Her eyes are like Fuji-senpai's…'

Unconsciously, Ryoma straighted up in front of the woman, mesmerized by the blue eyes. She wasn't even aware that she reacted exactly like she did when she met with her tensai senpai's eyes. Ryoma raised her head to meet eye-to-eye with the woman. The eyes of the stranger hypnotized her. Ryoma couldn't dart her eyes away from the cerulean orbs. But even if she could, she wouldn't. There was something which was telling Ryoma not to break eye contact with this stranger. Thus, Ryoma fixed the woman in the eyes without feeling any fear or uneasiness. For a very long time, the two of them didn't make a move nor a sound. It was as the world around them stopped running, the time freezing in the space.

"Ryoma!" someone called, bringing Ryoma back to her senses. Ryoma turned around to see Nanako waving at her. "Ryoma, it's lunch time!"

"Hai, I'm coming," Ryoma answered back. She turned back to the woman. "Excuse-me, I must… Eeh?" Ryoma looked right to left. The woman was no longer there. Ryoma was alone. "Where did she…?"

"Ryoma!" Nanako called again. Ryoma turned on her feet to Nanako, glanced a last time behind her. The woman was really nowhere to be seen.

"Meow!" Karupin meowed. He was getting hungry.

"Alright, I'm coming!" Ryoma said and ran to Nanako.

No far from there, a Roll Royce car was waiting. Seeing the mistress coming back, the driver opened the door of the car. The woman stepped in and the driver closed the door. A man in his forties was waiting inside. The woman sat next to him. Not wanting to talk yet, the woman reflected in silence over her encounter with the young black green hair girl.

"Do you know, anata (1)," the woman said to her husband. "I just met that Echizen Ryoma girl."

"Humm, how was it?" her husband, Sennosuke, turned to her and responded, smiling pleasantly. The woman slowly smiled.

"She looks directly in my eyes," Seri said.

"Ooooooh! Impressive!" Sennosuke exclaimed. Rare were people who could look directly in his wife's eyes. The number of people who could do it could only be counted on the fingers of one hand. Yet, this young girl Echizen Ryoma did it at the first meeting. "She must not be any common girl then, this Echizen Ryoma," Sennosuke said, smiling widely.

"Yes," Seri said again, her smile still lingering on her lips. She tilted her head, tapping with the tip of her finger on her cheek. "Now, I understand why Syuusuke chooses her."

"You must know it," her husband said in a kind voice. "If our son choose someone, then this person must possesses something exceptional."

"I know," Seri replied. "But I just wanted to see her with my own eyes."

Sennosuke smiled, a kind expression in his eyes.

"And are you satisfied with your future daughter-in-law?" he asked, putting his arm around her shoulders. Seri raised a questioning eyebrow, looking at him.

"How can you be so sure she will be my future daughter-in-law?" she asked, quite amused. Her husband chuckled.

"After all, Syuusuke is my son. There are things that only I, his father, know," Sennosuke said. He paused, recalling the memory of his past. "I wasn't anywhere near my elder brothers, so I have always did everything Mother wanted from me to make her happy. Except that one time. That one time I refused to obey to her and marry the fiancée she chose for me." He looked in his wife's eyes. "And I never regret disobeying her."

His wife chuckled.

"Syuusuke likely inherited it from me," Sennosuke continued, "Once his heart choose someone, it would be the only choice. And forever. However, unlike me, Syuusuke will not disobeyed Mother nor disappointed her. This child's heart is too soft and too gentle for his own good. And sadly, he inherited your insight. Syuusuke is more receptive to people feelings and emotions compare to the average of people. He must have feel that Mother was disappointed in me and that she wanted to put her hope into her grandchildren. However, Syuusuke didn't wanted Yuuta to be involved. He knew very well that Yuuta will not be able to survive for a long time if he was controlled by Mother. That was why he offered himself in sacrifice. He rather suffer all his life alone than seeing Yuuta suffering. And because of this contract between him and Mother, I cannot interfere. And I am condemned to watch my son dying slowly, little by little. In silence.

Sennosuke closed his eyes, pausing momentary.

"The only hope I have was someone who could support him will appear in his life. Someone who could give him strength and who accepted to walk along his side, even when the path is harsh and scattered with rocks. Someone who could made him feel hope and happiness again, even when everything is black for him. I have no doubt that Lavinia-san would support him the best she could and would not left him alone on the road, but she won't be able to give him comfort and strength when he will need them. Then, I learn from Shindou-san about Echizen Ryoma."

"Shindou-san called her 'Echizen-hime-sama'," Seri said. "That was enough to tell how much Shindou-san likes her."

Sennosuke nodded.

"Shindou-san never called anyone 'hime' before. Not even Lavinia-san," Sennosuke said. "For Syuusuke, I wish everything for Echizen Ryoma to become our future daughter-in-law, wherever mother like it or not." Seri nodded, agreeing. "She is who Syuusuke needs to live again. Thus, are you satisfied with Syuusuke's choice?" Seri smiled.

"Very," she said. "She passes the only test I wanted Syuusuke's future wife to succeed. She has a strong will, a very strong will. She will not be afraid to stand against mother to protect Syuusuke." Seri looked up to the ceiling of the car. "At first, I was a little bit reluctant because of her lack of background. Lavinia would have make a very good daughter-in-law. But the strength of Echizen Ryoma's will possesses a very high value, a very high value. She will be a good support for Syuusuke, and for the future of our family," Syuusuke's mother said. She stopped a moment. "This will be the hardest part to convince Mother, her background."

Sennosuke chuckled.

"I believe that her brother, Yuuji Ryuu, a very fine young man I must add, will not leave it like this," he said. "He will certainly do something about it."

"How can you be so sure?" Seri asked, looking questionably at him. Sennosuke chuckled again.

"Something tells me so," he only said.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the downtown of Tokyo, in the highest floor of a glass building, in a private meeting room.

Ryoga scribbled his signature on two papers. Then, he pushed the papers in front of Rinko and gave her his pen. Rinko apposed her signatures next to Ryoga's. Then, she too pushed the papers to the person next to her, Nanjirou. Nanjirou did the same as Ryoga and Rinko. When Nanjirou finished, he pushed the papers to the person in front of him, Yagyuu Hiroshi, their testimony. When Yagyuu wrote his signature, he gave the papers back to the Yuuji family's lawyer, Takeaki Komei. Takeaki took the papers and examined the signatures. Satisfied, he smiled.

"It's perfect," Takeaki said. He took the pen and apposed the last signature required, his one. "Yuuji Ryuu-sama, welcome back. And also, Echizen Ryoma is now your ward with her parents' consent. She is conferred the name of Yuuji, as Echizen-Yuuji Ryoma, and all the rights of a member of the Yuuji family."

Ryoga nodded, very aware he was, from this moment, a Yuuji and a warden for his adopted little sister. Rinko and Nanjirou smiled to him, feeling very proud about the young adult he became. And Yagyuu send a thought about his grandfather.

'Grandfather, I finally fulfilled my promise to you. Please, rest in peace from now.' Yagyuu had the impression he heard his grandfather thanking him. He suddenly felt very serene with himself. He was happy. He looked at Ryoga. Ryoga was facing the window, looking the sky outside.

'I'm back,' was Ryoga's only thinking.

Upon the ceiling floated the ghost of a woman. She was there from the beginning of the meeting. This time, she was smiling.

'It's done. My role on Earth is now finished.'

She closed her eyes and glowed. And she disappeared.

1) anata: literally "you", but also used between spouses to mean "dear" or "darling".

A/N: Yes, again, I didn't answer the question about the ghost. It seemed that she rose a lot of curiosity even though she was not a big character. Before unveiling the identity of the ghost, I am curious about your guessing. Who do you think the ghost is? How many of you will get the right answer? In the story, I scattered here and there three hints about her identity. I'm very curious to heard your hypotheses. So please, tell me your guess!

Post on Saturday, January 16.